


maps

by sidneyprescott



Series: i've been dying to get you dizzy [1]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 19:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12416793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidneyprescott/pseuds/sidneyprescott
Summary: "wait, they don't love you like i love you."





	maps

**Author's Note:**

> for the lyrics prompt "wait, they don't love you like i love you." this is the first of three parts. this fic takes place when the losers are roughly 13/14 years old and there are no warnings for this. just friendship, fluff, and the realization of emotions. writing style is freeform.

it hits richie like a suckerpunch to the gut that steals the air from his lungs and causes his heart to slam painfully against his ribcage. he makes a choked kind of sound that attracts the attention of big bill, who immediately starts banging on his back thinking richie’s choking on his own spit again. part of him wishes bill would break one of his ribs and it’d splinter inside of him, collapse his lung, and he’d die in a freak accident before he’d have to deal with  _ it _ . the other part of richie would kill himself before he’d ever let bill denbrough carry the guilt of killing him for the rest of bill’s life. 

“you good?” eddie asks. he’s gripping his inhaler like he might offer it to richie.

“yeah,” richie croaks around a dry throat, ducking out of the way of bill’s fist. “just choked on one of your mom’s pubes.”

any desire to help richie catch his breath deflates out of eddie’s small form. he rolls his eyes, muttering a venomous  _ fuck you _ before crossing his arms. richie grins at the smattering of laughs he gets for that one, pointedly avoiding stan’s eyes.

“are you done now? can i finish my story or are you going to literally die from the lack of attention?” beverly asks. she’s smiling at him and holding a cigarette between her fingers. bill and ben are standing too close to her and she nearly pokes it into ben’s eye when she shifts her weight from one leg to another. her hair glows orange under the sunlight.

richie reaches out and plucks the cigarette from her, pulling it into his own mouth and taking a drag purely for the way it burns his lungs from the inside out. “by the time you finish i’ll have cancer.” he retorts, inhaling another long puff between a lopsided smile.

she rolls her eyes at him, continuing her story. he doesn’t even remember what it’s about. mike wordlessly takes the cigarette next. he hands richie his water bottle without being asked for it.

richie takes a long gulp from the bottle. it feels like ice against his burnt throat. he feels mike’s hand on his shoulder, fleeting, checking that he’s alright. 

beverly’s hair is red. his lungs are on fire. ben’s holding a poetry book under his arm. it’s bukowski. eddie has asthma. bill denbrough and mike hanlon are his best friends. richie tozier is in love with stan uris.

he’s nearly uppercut in the lungs again by cupid or whatever universal power keeps shoving the thought to the forefront of his mind. richie chances a look at stan and his breath catches when stan looks back at him. it’s only when stan’s brow furrows that richie remembers he’s telepathic or some shit, always able to read any of their minds or gauge their emotions in some way. richie once joked that stan’s bar mitzvah had actually been an x-men initiation and stan had rolled his eyes and bit back through a grin. a similar grin ghosts on stan’s mouth and richie thinks he’ll live the rest of his life chasing that smile. 

ben loves beverly. beverly loves bill. bill loves them both, as well as the rest of the losers club. eddie loves hand sanitizer, but he loves them too. they all love each other.

_ but they don’t love you like i love you. _ richie thinks, watching the way stan seamlessly passes the cigarette from mike back to beverly. 


End file.
